Lyman, Fenton & Co.
Washbasin

CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Washbasin
Datec. 1849–1858
Made inBennington, Vermont, United States
MediumLead-glazed earthenware (flint enamel ware)
Dimensions4 7/8 × 14 7/8 in. diameter (12.4 × 37.8 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg
Object numberB.57.31
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Folk Art Room
Exposé

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
Description

By the mid-nineteenth century, the washbasin and pitcher were essential hygiene items and virtually every American household contained at least one set. These sets were among the most popular forms produced at the Fenton pottery. Indeed, a basin and pitcher were two of the items chosen by the firm for the 1853 Crystal Palace Exhibition.  A variety of patterns and glazes were offered; the broad surfaces of these large pieces provided an excellent opportunity for the display of the multicolored Rockingham glazes.

Related examples: Barret 1958, following p. 108, color plate B, and p. 118, pl. 167; Perry 1989, p. 49, no. 45.

Book excerpt: David B. Warren, Michael K. Brown, Elizabeth Ann Coleman, and Emily Ballew Neff. American Decorative Arts and Paintings in the Bayou Bend Collection. Houston: Princeton Univ. Press, 1998.


Provenance[George S. McKearin, Hoosick Falls, New York]; [George Abraham and Gilbert May Antiques, West Granville, Massachusetts]; purchased by Miss Ima Hogg, 1957; given to MFAH, by 1966.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
[no inscriptions]
Impressed on underside: Lyman Fenton & Co. / Fenton's / ENAMEL / PATENTED / 1849. / BENNINGTON, Vt. [Barret 1958, p. 14, fig. IXa]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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